Research Methods and Studying Sex

By Sally Raskoff

Sexual behavior is challenging to measure. Alfred Kinsey famously studied sex in the mid-twentieth century, and although groundbreaking, his study relied on convenience sampling which prevents us from being able to generalize the results to the entire population.

The National Health and Social Life Survey (NHSLS), conducted in 1992, has been considered a more scientifically rigorous study. Two more recent studies, the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) and the National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior (NSSHB) provide us with a more current picture of sexual behavior in America.

The NHSLS, NSSHB, and NSFG are all national probability samples, which means that we can generalize the findings to the larger population even though they didn’t survey everyone in the country.

The older NHSLS is based on 3,432 respondents (1,901 women, 1,531 men), ages 18-59. The NSFG is sampled an astounding 13,495 people (6,139 men, 7,356 women), ages 15 to 44. The NSSHB sampled the largest age range, including 5,865 people (2,929 women, 2,936 men,), ages 14 to 94.

The findings from all these studies are quite interesting--and not just because they have to do with sexual behavior.

Each study asked about sexual orientation identity. The older NHSLS data showed 98.6% of women and 96.9% of men said they were heterosexual, 0.9% women and 2.0% men said homosexual, gay, or lesbian, and 0.5% and 0.8% men said they were bisexual.

The newer studies show slightly different data:

Sexual Orientation	NSSHB
	2009
WOMEN	14-17	18-70+	NSFG, 2006-2008 18-44
Heterosexual	90.5	93.1	93.7
Homosexual, Gay, or Lesbian	0.2	0.9	1.1
Bisexual	8.4	3.6	3.5
MEN	14-17	18-70+	18-44
Heterosexual	96.1	92.2	95.7
Homosexual, Gay, or Lesbian	1.8	4.2	1.7
Bisexual	1.5	2.6	1.1

Source: NSFG: Tables 12 & 13; NSSHB: Table 1.

The table above shows the primacy of the heterosexual category, with which most people identify. However, comparing data on identity to those based on behavior, a fascinating pattern emerges: Identity does not always match behavior.

Sexual Behavior	WOMEN	MEN
NSFG (2006-2008)	15-24	15-24
Any Opposite Sex Contact	70.1	71.7
Any Same Sex Contact	13.4	4.0
No Sexual Contact with another person	28.6	27.2

Source: NSFG: Table 7.

Notice how the identity data patterns show very few people aligning with the homosexual or bisexual categories. Yet when asked about homosexual or bisexual behavior, much higher percentages appear.

Since both studies utilize probability samples, they are both representative of the larger population. There can be some sampling error, wherein some groups might be systematically excluded in ways that might bias the data. When this happens one sample may not fully represent its population. Is that what’s happening here? Or is there more going on?

Part of the answer might lie with methodology. The NHSLS used face-to-face interviews and focus groups. The NSFG used in-person interviews using “Audio Computer Assisted Self-Interviewing” technology. The NSSHB used “Research Panels accessed through Knowledge Networks” via the internet, although they did provide hardware and internet access when necessary. When dealing with a sensitive subject like sex, how the data are collected will have a big impact on the results.

Another clue would rest with the different ways the questions were asked. Each study asked about the issues in slightly different ways.

For the NSFG, what was considered “sexual behavior” was different if it was same-sex or other-sex contact. For the NSSHB, questions were about specific behaviors based on who were their partners.

While the studies were conducted at different times, that is not necessarily problematic. Cultural patterns such as these do not tend to shift quickly.

Our scientific techniques for high-quality research are based on systematic methodologies. Because such techniques can yield different results we need to replicate or repeat research studies as often as possible. Many studies on the same topic can give us a lot of data patterns which then can be compared and compiled so that we can see more clearly what is going on in our social world. What other factors do you think might create more high-quality data on sensitive issues like this one?

Comments

[Ben]

Wow this is really informative. In my sociology class, we are talking about the norms and taboos of relationships of people. People in marriages and how people feel towards other people. I didn't know that women lean more towards bisexual then men do. And I was also suprised that men leaned more towards homosexual then women.

[Lindsay]

This was interesting. In our sociology class we are talking about different types of research methods and, surveys are one method. I think that it is impressive that these surveys can get that many people to share their sexuality. Also, I noticed that depending on what survey you take you may get different numbers.

[Trevor Ankrum]

I thought this was quite informative. It is amazing that many people would share about there sexuality. You can also see many different numbers just based on the fact that some people are not comfortable with sharing there sexuality. Overall a good survey though.

[Jakob Hummel]

Very nice survey. Our class recently talked about informative surveys. The results of the survey, to me, are not that surprising however. Obviously the majority of sexual orientation is heterosexual. The one stat that caught my eye the most was the 13.4% of females admitting to same sex contact. Only 8.6% of them claimed to be homosexual or bi so it doesn't quite add up. Although it may just be a case like the Katy Perry song "I kissed a girl" .. Girls may just kiss on each other for fun where you don't see guys doing stuff like that outside of "the closet." Interesting survey nonetheless.

[Brock D.]

This was a very interesting study. It's fascinating to see how the numbers of homosexuals change when questioned by the different tests. This goes to show that the littlest change in wording can completely throw off or make a survey better. It was also interesting to see that the numbers of homosexuals are so low and yet it is a big issue in this country.

[Curtis Ege]

I thought this article was a little confusing and easy to loose focus while reading, but it is hardly about sexual behaviors. Besides the chart and first paragraph or so, a few good points are made about survey methodology. I can see people being a lot more comfortable with true responses over the internet and way from others. I think the survey was accurate, but may be a lot more precise if different methods were considered.

[manny]

This survey is very informative but i think some of the homosexuality could been altered if dome again because some people lie and say they are not so i think it is good survey the way it is because their would be no way to actually get all the truth out

[Alicia Wilson]

This article didn't interest me but it was nice knowing other people's sexual behaviors. The charts gave information on the numbers of people who are homosexual, gay, or lesbian of male and female which I could possibly understand it well. I like the point on what Jakob said about the song by Katy Perry "I kissed a girl". I get what he's talking about for girls but not about the guy part.

[Matt Peterson]

I agree with Curtis on how this article was a little confusing. Also on how people would be more comfortable answering the survey with true responses. I think most people would feel uncomfortable answering the questions in a face-to-face interview. If i could understand this article more it would be interesting.

[gerson de lao]

these article is informative but i hardly understand it. I understand the chart and how some of the population has become lesbian, gay and homesexual.

[Katie Knoblock]

Wow this survey shows alot about how much more experimental girls are than guys!! I noticed that there is a higher percentage of girls that have had sexual contact with another girl but aren't necessarily homosexual. With the guys the two percentages were significantly closer to one another, I thought that was very interesting. I do wonder why that is though, if guys are just less experimental or if it's today's society that puts more stress and pressure on experimentation of that sort.

[Dylan]

Wow, pretty strange stuff to see such a change just from the way in which people asked the questions. I feel that poeple will be more open to telling the truth to a computer than another person. It's a lot more easy to do that than tell a focus group you have had other sexual contact other that the opp sex. It goes to show that there is a lot we have to learn about what our exact sexual nature really is.

[Amy Whitaker]

This studying looks like it has alot of information because of how many people that were tested, but the number of women, and men tested aren't equal so i feel as if that could make a glitch in the results.

[Kylie Rose]

This was a very interesting article to read about, given we are learning about how Sociologists do research and use different methods and samplings in order to come up with the best statistic closest matched with the population. It was good to see how different numbers and percentages are when the same question is just offered in a different way.

[Dating]

Nice nice blog thanks